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Historical Context

As the United States evolved into an industrial powerhouse in the decades following the Civil
War, the growing strength of the railroads and the banks, coupled with the impact of
mechanization on agricultural practices, challenged the financial stability of American farmers
in ways never before experienced. Inventions such as the McCormick Reaper and steel
plows made the work of farmers more efficient, but had the side effect of putting many
smaller farmers out of business. Other farmers struggled to make the payments on the
expensively priced equipment, or struggled to pay the high prices charged by the powerful
railroad trusts to ferry their product to the larger markets. As a result, they were forced to
borrow money to pay for these costs from banks that charged them unfair rates and offen
kept them in a cycle of debt and poverty.
Throughout the 1860's, 1870s and 1880s, farmers organized collectively, at first locally, and
eventually nationally into the Grange Movement and Farmers Alliance, an organization that
promoted economic cooperation and broad economic reform to protect the interests of
farmers. Both of these movements helped to create the People's Party, or the Populist Party
which officially established its party platform in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 1892
From: Gilder Lehrman
Analysis Question:
1. How did industrialization impact farmers during the Industrial Revolution?

User Spencer Hall
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There are no results for Historical Context As the United States evolved into an industrial powerhouse in the decades following the Civil War, the growing strength of the railroads and the banks, coupled with the impact of mechanization on agricultural practices, challenged the financial stability of American farmers in ways never before experienced. Inventions such as the McCormick Reaper and steel plows made the work of farmers more efficient, but had the side effect of putting many smaller farmers out of business. Other farmers struggled to make the payments on the expensively priced equipment, or struggled to pay the high prices charged by the powerful railroad trusts to ferry their product to the larger markets. As a result, they were forced to borrow money to pay for these costs from banks that charged them unfair rates and offen kept them in a cycle of debt and poverty. Throughout the 1860's, 1870s and 1880s, farmers organized collectively, at first locally, and eventually nationally into the Grange Movement and Farmers Alliance, an organization that promoted economic cooperation and broad economic reform to protect the interests of farmers. Both of these movements helped to create the People's Party, or the Populist Party which officially established its party platform in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 1892 From: Gilder Lehrman Analysis Question: 1. How did industrialization impact farmers during the Industrial Revolution?

User Rellampec
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